WATT DRIVE motor gear units in the steel industry

WATT DRIVE motor gear units in the steel industry

Braun Maschinenfabrik (Braun) has manufactured a cutting machine for hot cutting of radial rolled bars for the stainless steel company in Balzano, Italy. To integrate the machine into the rolling line, Braun had to completely review the material handling process and procure 68 motor reducers from WEG-WATT DRIVE for a fully automated conveyor solution.

Founded in 1848, Braun is a family-owned company that currently focuses on three areas: hydraulic steelwork, steel cutting and grinding machines, and concrete cutting and drilling machines. Headquartered in Vöcklabruck, Austria, the company is one of the leading international manufacturers of state-of-the-art high-performance abrasive cutting machines for cold and hot cutting and high pressure grinders for non-steel. Customized material handling and automation systems, together with professional design engineering and comprehensive after-sales support, complete the service package for the steel industry.

In Bolzano, the company chose several Watt Drive motor gearboxes to operate various units of the specially developed material handling system (“Valbruna”), which Braun has implemented in its stainless steel factory operated by Acciaierie Valbruna S.p.a with the TS12W type abrasive cutting machine.

The abrasive cutting machine in Bolzano was integrated into an existing rolling line by Braun. Its task is to cut the ends of the hot rolled pieces after the rolling process is completed. Previously, finished rolling pieces of 2.5 to 5.5 m in length were unloaded with the roll manipulator, transferred to a roller table running parallel to the system, and then taken out as single steel bars. Longer rolled parts of 5 to 13 m in length at the stainless steel mill faced a complex material handling task.

A challenge for the new design of the material handling system was the limited transfer height of 0.5 m for the roll manipulator because the roller table in the abrasive cutting machine was significantly higher at 1.09 m. The aim was to move the roll pieces from both unloading positions to a single roller table line at the same height as the table in the abrasive cutting machine.

At this point, the compact, modular design of WATT DRIVE motor gearboxes came into play. WATT DRIVE can produce solutions with features and options that can tackle new and complex tasks in cutting and surface grinding machines. Several new conveyor system designs were required to implement the ambitious machining process. First, the 2.5 to 5 m long rolls are now placed on a height adjustable roller table 3.5 m from the discharge roller table or in one of five buffer positions by a material transfer device consisting of four trolleys. Larger rolling pieces, 5 to 13 m long, are now removed from the roll manipulator fully automatically by a material transfer unit applying power and guide rollers and are continuously fed into the height-adjustable roller table. The locking movement is provided by synchronously controlled hydraulic cylinders and the conveyor rollers are driven electromechanically. The secondary drive systems consist of a two Watt Drive K75 type helical-bevel gear motor reducer with power ratings of 3 kW. Gearmotors have IP55 protection class and with 28 rpm output speed and 1.012 Nm output torque, i = 51.02 ratio.

The height-adjustable roller table, approximately 11.5 m long, removes the shorter roll parts from the transport carts using a lifting motion that provides electromechanical forward and lifting motion using hydraulic cylinders. The longer rolled pieces are taken directly from the drawing unit. All forgings are then moved by the height adjustable roller table from the exit height of 0.5 to 1.09 m, which is the level of the roller table in the sanding cutting machine.

Materials are conveyed by 17 individually electromechanically driven rollers. There, 59 identical Watt Drive A46 type parallel shaft motor reducers, each 0.75 kW, are used there, and on the cutting machine feed and output roller tables as a whole. Two of these have encoders (1.024 HTL). With an output torque of 106 Nm and a ratio of i = 20.86, gearboxes operate at 68 rpm. Due to the large amount of heat generated during hot cutting, WATT DRIVE motor gear units are specially designed to operate at ambient temperatures up to + 60°C with the HT option and are also equipped with TH and TF, PTC thermistors and bimetal thermostats, which are standard on all motors.

The lifting action of the height adjustable roller table is provided by an electromechanical system powered by a Watt Drive F131 type parallel shaft motor reducer with 15 kW. The drive system includes a BR100 spring brake with a braking torque of 100 Nm and produces an output torque of 7,462 Nm with a selected ratio of i = 76.05.

At this point, Watt Drive’s support helps you to cope with such challenging projects with short delivery times, supplier reliability. Beyond that, with the use of high quality Watt Drive products, machine manufacturers can guarantee their customers much more easily.

After the abrasive cutting procedure is completed, the forged parts are removed from the machine and moved to the chain conveyor or chain vessel for cooling. Chain conveyor drive systems are designed to operate at ambient temperatures up to + 60 ° C with two F111 type parallel shaft motor reducers, 3 kW each, with the HT option, and are equipped with standard TH and TF, PTC thermistors and bimetal thermostats. Motor gearboxes for the gradual cooling of rolled parts have a speed i = 207.08 with a speed of only 7 rpm. Space-saving modular Watt Drive motor gearboxes can operate even at very low revolutions with the feature of making high bond ratios in one body. For example, two F137 type parallel shaft motor reducers of a chain boat rotary drive with a power ratio of 1.5 kW operate much slower at 1.4 rpm. BR20 brakes are fitted to the motors, giving a braking torque level of 20 Nm, to prevent the mill parts from falling out.

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